100 000 000 000 Mark Reichsbanknote

By the time this note entered circulation in late 1923, the Reichsmark-denominated printing industry was struggling to keep pace with hyperinflation that was doubling prices every few days. The 100 billion Mark denomination — unimaginable a year earlier — was itself rendered nearly worthless within weeks of issue. Workers were reportedly paid twice daily and sent home immediately to spend before the afternoon exchange rate erased their wages.

Pick 126 is one of several emergency high-denomination notes printed in-house by the Reichsdruckerei in Berlin under extreme production pressure. The watermark was retained more as inherited convention than as meaningful anti-counterfeiting measure — forging worthless currency was hardly a criminal priority in November 1923.